A Marine City physician is scheduled for arraignment on 15 charges Wednesday for allegedly over-prescribing narcotics.

The doctor denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations are ruining his career.

The warrant for 51-year-old Peter Pashley lists these charges:

Three counts of delivery/manufacture controlled substance hydrocodone less than 50 grams, a 20 year felony and/or $25,000 fine

Four counts delivery/manufacture a schedule 4 controlled substance, alprazolam, a four year felony and/or $2,000 fine

Three counts controlled substance - licensee prescription violations for allegedly knowingly or intentionally prescribing hydrocodone, a high court misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of two years and/or a $25,000 fine

Four counts controlled substance - licensee prescription violations for allegedly knowingly or intentionally prescribing alprazolam, a high court misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of two years and/or a $25,000 fine

One count possession of marijuana/synthetic equivalent, a one year misdemeanor and/or $2,000 fine

Pashley's downtown Marine City office was raided by the St. Clair County Drug Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration during an investigation into the illegal distribution of narcotics in August 2016.

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A probably cause conference for Peter Pashley, a physician from Marine City, has been rescheduled to Sept. 6 at 72nd District Court in Marine City. He faces 15 charges related to allegedly over-prescribing narcotics. Pashley's downtown Marine City office was raided by the St. Clair County Drug Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration in August 2016(Photo: Brian M. Wells/Times Herald)

The investigation began with a traffic stop Dec. 1, 2015, on a West Virginia-plated car. The driver of the vehicle was in possession of numerous prescriptions from the doctor, according to officials.

Investigators said last year it was believed the doctor was prescribing pills to patients from all over Michigan and several other states.

Pashley said he has seen no evidence related to the charges and hadn't seen the warrant as of Tuesday morning.

He said he's never prescribed patients medication that was not needed. Pashley said the allegations have been "horrible."

"My reputation has been devastated, my patients have suffered," he said, noting area pharmacies aren't filling his prescriptions after reading news accounts about the raid.

"My career is in trouble."

Pashley said he started as a paramedic and a Marine and has only ever wanted to help people.

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case.

"I will say there are a lot of people responsible for the opioid crisis," Wendling said. "The way prescription medications make it to the streets aren't just dealers handing them to a kid on the school bus. There are a lot of ways this crisis came about.

"... We will seek prosecution of people regardless of status who distribute these dangerous medications illegally."

The most prescribed drug by Pashley that year was hydrocodone-acetaminophen — an opioid painkiller — with 484 prescriptions filled for 69 patients. The second highest prescribed drug was alprazolam — tranquilizer often known by the brand name Xanax — at 391 prescriptions to 43 patients, according to ProPublica, an independent non-profit that conducts investigative journalism.

The analysis shows in 2014 Pashley's patients averaged 35 prescriptions — including refills — compared to an average of 16 for other internal medicine specialists in Michigan.

Pashley said attention to the opioid epidemic has been taken to such an extreme it is creating a "medical scarcity" for treatment. He said he follows all standards and guidelines when it comes to prescribing.

Pashley said he hopes he is vindicated and it comes out that he is not doing anything criminal.

"I'm not that guy," he said. "I'm a poor, country internist."

Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard.